Part of our tour of Dublin included a visit to the Kilmainham Gaol (gaol pronounced as jail). It is now a museum but was once an actual prison which held many leaders of the Irish Rebellion– 7 of them were in fact executed on the very grounds we visited.
This prison not only housed political prisoners, it also held women and children (yes, kids!!!) who were caught doing petty crimes! The youngest recorded prisoner was a boy aged 5– for stealing a cloak or a loaf of bread *or something of that sort*. It was pretty morbid– because these children were treated no differently from the other prisoners who were committed for worse crimes.
Anyway here are some photos from the visit.
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| Reminded me of the movie of Nicolas Cage and Sean Connery– The Rock |
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| Peeped into one of the little holes on the doors of the cell and this was what I saw |
This cross marked the place of execution of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. Another leader of the Easter Rising, James Connolly was also executed in the same grounds, but on the opposite side of this cross. (Pretty morbid!)
I think to get a sense of the Ireland’s history, you really must make the visit to Kilmainham Gaol. It was undoubtedly a very educational visit for me.
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TheBagHag